■ EUROZONE
Industrial production drops
Official data shows industrial production in the 16 countries that use the euro unexpectedly fell in June, raising fears that economic growth in the eurozone may not be as strong as anticipated. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, said yesterday that industrial output slid 0.1 percent in June from the previous month. That sharply contrasts with the 1.1 percent gain recorded in May and confounded market expectations for a 0.6 percent rise.
■ SOUTH KOREA
Interest rate unchanged
The central bank left its key interest rate unchanged yesterday as the outlook for the global economy dims — a month after raising it from a record low. The Bank of Korea’s decision to leave the benchmark seven-day repurchase rate at 2.25 percent was widely expected. Government debt problems in some European countries have eased, but risks still loom, it said.
■ TECHNOLOGY
India mulls BlackBerry ban
High-level government talks in India yesterday to discuss a possible suspension of BlackBerry services over worries about national security ended “inconclusively,” an official said, adding that the talks between the home ministry and intelligence agencies did not come to a decision on whether to halt BlackBerry’s services if the smartphone maker failed to address security concerns.
■ BEVERAGES
World Cup boosts sales
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the world’s largest brewer, said yesterday that the soccer World Cup helped push up sales in the second quarter, boosting net profit by 7.5 percent to US$1.15 billion. The producer of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck’s said results this year beat its own expectations and those of market analysts and growth will continue through this year. Revenue rose 4.1 percent to US$9.2 billion in the second quarter.
■ TELECOMS
Telstra profits drop
Australian telecoms giant Telstra yesterday said annual profits dropped 4.7 percent to US$3.49 billion and would keep falling as fixed-line revenues decline and mobile competition heats up. The former state monopoly said net profits of A$3.88 billion (US$3.49 billion) would slide by a “high single-digit percentage” in the coming financial year on “flattish” sales revenue. “[Financial year] 2010 was undoubtedly a challenging year as we managed intense competition and an accelerating shift of voice and data to our mobile networks,” a company statement said.
■ FOOD
Barilla sells bakery chain
Italian pasta maker Barilla has agreed to sell German bakery chain Kamps to a private equity fund and the company’s management for an undisclosed sum. Kamps said late on Wednesday that the new majority owner will be a fund administered by ECM Equity Capital Management GmbH, based in Frankfurt. It said Kamps’ management would hold a “significant” stake, but didn’t elaborate.
■CHINA
Tariffs imposed on chemical
China yesterday slapped anti-dumping duties of up to 20.1 percent on a chemical imported from South Korea and Thailand that is used to make clothes and plastic. The Ministry of Commerce said it would impose tariffs for five years on pure terephthalic acid from the two countries after finding the domestic industry had suffered “substantial damage.”
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique